


Being a Brother Again

by Cellocky



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: After Doomsday, Bad Parent Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Before Disc Finale, Canonical Character Death, Cottagecore, Depressed TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Good Brother Wilbur, Good Wilbur Soot, Like I made him not a murderous scumbag, Phil is Kind of a Bad Dad, Running Away, Techno isn't, TommyInnit is Not Okay (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot and TommyInnit are Siblings, Wilbur Tries to Fix Things, but like that's canonical, dream is a jerk, it's wilbur, tubbo is not okay, wow this is super not canon now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:29:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 14,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28828938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cellocky/pseuds/Cellocky
Summary: Wilber comes back pissed.He's never been good with weapons, but his words cut to the core just the same.He realizes the only way for Tommy to heal is to get him away from the jerks he gave his everything to.Tubbo can come to.
Relationships: Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, Toby Smith | Tubbo & Wilbur Soot, Toby Smith | Tubbo & Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit, Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit
Comments: 99
Kudos: 1406





	1. Feeling wind is weird after not feeling it for a while

Wilbur was in spawn.

It was kind of strange, as the last thing he remembered was standing in front of a crowd, telling Phil to kill him.

For the second time. 

Then it hit him that he could feel the wind moving through his hair, that his shifting weight made the grass under his feet crunch. 

He was alive again.

With a quick check of his inventory, he confirmed that you don’t get to keep your things when you’re resurrected, same as when you die. Which really is a shame, since he’d been holding onto a lot of blue, so he would have to ask if anyone had picked it up for him. 

Mechanically he started to move toward the center of the SMP, trying to catalogue the memories that his now alive brain could process without immediately blocking out anything even remotely upsetting. Without a cloud of confusion and desperate happiness, it was easy to see just how much he’d missed or ignored entirely in the instinctual need to be happy. Running through it all, he almost wished he’d stayed a ghost.

The more Wilbur remembered, the more livid he became. By the time he’d made it halfway to the ruins of L’manberg, his hands were shaking. Apparently death can heal a broken mind, as the memories of how he had treated those around him leading up to his death now made him want to rip his own hair out rather than gloat. And the fact that he’d worked with Dream filled him with shame rather than pride. Not to mention what he’d done to Tommy.

Oh God, Tommy.

The realization that his little brother had seen him die at the hands of their father not once but twice, and had spent weeks alone with no one around but Dream who had constantly belittled and taken from him made Wilbur have to sit down on a nearby rock to breathe for a moment. 

And Phil hadn’t visited Tommy once. He instead went to live with one of the men who had destroyed their home a second time. He stayed with Techno when he decided he needed to destroy their home for a third time out of some misplaced sense of justice, talking about how power corrupts and that he was doing everyone a favor while simultaneously having the power to murder anyone and everyone he wanted to, which was just the most fucked up piece of hypocritical irony Wilbur had ever heard.

Not to mention that on top of being exiled from his friends and abandoned to the whims of Dream who had driven him to, what looked like looking back on it, suicidal levels, Tommy had to watch his father and unofficial brother figure decide that he and his happiness were worth less to them than “teaching him a lesson.” Wilbur tried to forget that he’d done something very similar when he was alive, but it seems that being able to forget anything that hurt was in fact only a talent one had when they were dead.

He got up and started walking again, deciding that getting back to comfort his brother and reassure him that the resurrection worked was more important than his internal crisis. Looking at the feed, he saw that it indeed showed him dying to Philza, but no one had typed anything in chat. They were probably unsure if it worked, and were waiting around to see if he respawned at his bed or not, or they decided to start looking for him. 

Or they were fighting with each other. 

They were probably fighting with each other.

The first thing Wilber was going to do after giving Tommy the biggest hug he could was grab him Tubbo and Friend and travel as far away from Dream as he possibly could. Well, Friend III. The fact that Phil had been able to convince him that a sheep had infinite lives would have been embarrassing if he’d been in his right mind. There’s another reason to be mad at him, he destroyed L’manberg with Friend II inside and had the gall to tell his dead son that he was overreacting for being upset because Friend has “infinite lives” while knowing full well that was a lie.

Walking down the Prime Path felt surreal, being able hear his shoes actually make contact with the wood. Plus feeling the air moving through the giant rip in his sweater on both the front and back. He should probably find a replacement before going to see a large group of people, but the chat was still empty and Wilber was growing more paranoid that something terrible was happening with every step he took. With that in mind, his stride grew longer to a near jog. Running seemed to be a bit much for his newly reformed body to handle, so the awkward half walk half jog would have to do.

As he closed in on the crater, the sound of yelling filled the air. Wilbur wasn’t exactly surprised, Tommyinnit was present after all. Picking through the broken structures, and avoiding the massive holes took more time than he wanted, and the yelling was getting louder as more and more people started to shout their own arguments overtop of everyone else. This had the wonderful bonus of making everything they said entirely intelligible. 

When he finally crested the lip of the specific crater that the ritual had taken place in, the sound grew even louder. Fundy was screaming directly in Eret’s face who looked somewhat apologetic, and was desperately trying to calm the fox down by speaking in a soft volume that Wilbur couldn’t hear from this far away. Niki , Jack, and Quackity were all just generally shouting their opinions to the group whenever something relevant came up. Tubbo and Ranboo both looked like they wanted to be anywhere else in the world. Techno was lurking in a back corner, simply watching the proceedings like a game of tennis. And right at the center of it all was Tommyinnit in all his glory, screaming at the top of his lungs at Phil who was standing a good ten feet away, and was screaming right back.

Both Tommy and Phil made sweeping arm motions toward the altar, faces getting redder by the second, though Wilbur could see even from a distance that Tommy had tear tracks on his face, and Phil’s was completely dry.

“You fucking killed him again, bastard! You son of a bitch I can’t believe I thought this would work!”

“He asked me to! This is what he wanted! None of us could’ve known it wouldn’t fucking work! I only did what he asked me to!”

“We all knew it wouldn’t fucking work, you arsehole! Not a single one of us had any confidence in this stupid fucking shit show but Wilbur, and that’s because he’s fucking dead! You told him his stupid sheep couldn’t die and he believed you no matter what made sense because he thought that you would never lie to him! Well guess what, you stupid fucking son of a bitch! Now your fucking son is fucking dead and gone forever because you fucking killed him again with the same fucking sword as the first time! Wilbur was the only person in this fucking family who gave a shit about me, and now I’ll never see him again becasue our stupid fucking father would rather hang out with his old war buddy and decide that murder is okay as long as it’s assisted fucking suicide!”

Phil’s face grew thunderous, his voice dropping to a deadly calm that could finally be heard over everyone else because they were all staring wide eyed at Tommy.

“Don’t you dare fucking talk to me like that again. I am your father.”

“Oh really? Because the man who raised me since I was seven years old, the one who made my food, took care of me, and made sure I woke up on time in the morning just died for the second time! You’re the shittiest fucking father I’ve ever heard of.”

“That’s fucking it!”

Wilbur finally snapped out of his shock at hearing the tremor in Tommy’s voice when Philza lunged at Tommy and grabbed a hold of his arm. Tommy’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and he reflexively sunk toward the ground, like he had every time Dream had grabbed him the same way.

Wilbur didn’t hesitate.

“Don’t you dare fucking touch him!”


	2. Tommy wishes he didn't have Wilbur's last words memorized

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy's perspective of the ritual

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw/
> 
> panic attacks
> 
> mentions of abuse

Tommy liked Ghostbur. 

Ghostbur was nice to him when no one else wanted him around. He helped him build a new place to stay even though he didn’t deserve it. He always wanted everyone around him to be happy, though that one did get annoying when all Tommy wanted to do was sit in his tent and stare into space. The only thing Ghostbur ever did to hurt him was leave, and considering how much worse everyone else had been to him, Tommy couldn’t exactly fault him for that.

But no matter how much he liked Ghostbur, he wasn’t Wilbur. Wilbur had been taking care of him since he was eight and Phil took Techno to start a brand new empire for some fucking reason. Wilbur always brought him along to things to make sure he didn’t feel left out, which was incredibly admirable because Tommy knows now that he’s super fucking annoying.

Even when Wilbur was crazy, Tommy never felt left out or alone. Confused and betrayed yes, but never alone. Wilbur somehow managed to show that he loved him even when he very clearly hated everything. In his own twisted way, Tommy had come to understand that Wilbur was desperately trying to make sure his little brother never ended up like him. He did a shit job of showing that, and ended up causing way more problems in everyone’s lives, but Tommy generally understood his thought process no matter how fucked up it was.

With all that in mind, one would think Tommy would be happy to stumble across a small group of people trying to bring his one good brother back to life.

Instead he felt immediate panic followed closely by a deep hurt that no one had bothered to tell him that they were turning Wilbur into a zombie. He’d stayed to watch for about ten minutes until Phil finally stabbed Ghostbur through the back. Ghostbur disappeared which was promising, but came running back to the altar soon after, complaining about how it didn’t work and that all he wanted to do was die. Tommy left after that.

After failing so spectacularly, Tommy hoped they’d give up. He wasn’t surprised when they didn’t. Apparently this time they’d deemed him important enough to keep in the loop, but in the process they managed to tell every single person on the server about their plan. So naturally everyone showed up to see if the ritual would work on the second try. Well not everyone, the Badlands weren’t present and Dream and his lackeys were at the very least somewhere he couldn’t see them. Tommy wasn’t naive enough to think that that green bastard wasn’t watching from a distance using his stupid Admin powers to make himself invisible or some shit.

It seemed like the only thing they decided to do different this time around was make Ghostbur hold onto a totem of undying. He was stood trembling in the middle of the altar filled with things from his life that he couldn’t remember, with his free hand clenched in the wool on Friend’s back.

“Do you know what this button is, Phil?” Ghostbur said his lines with a confidence that was decidedly not portrayed on his face.

“I do.” Phil didn’t look even remotely worried about stabbing his son through the chest again.

Tommy tuned out the rest of the conversation, trying to fight down the rising unease in his chest. He honestly thought that nothing was going to happen again. That Ghostbur would fade out and respawn in the bed nearby, sad that resurrection was impossible, but he’d forget it soon anyway so it didn’t really matter. Tommy just couldn’t shake the feeling that something was different this time. He wasn’t lucky enough for that to mean that it would actually work, so that could only mean that Ghostbur was going to die for good this time. That he’d be trapped in the void forever, and Tommy would never see him again.

Realizing that he was only making himself more nervous, he tuned back into the action just in time to hear Ghostbur shout.

“Kill me Phil! Kill me!” Tommy wished he’d stayed at home.

“You’re my son!” Yeah you’ve really shown that you care about family Phil. Fucking hypocrite.

“Kill me! Killza!”

Phil plunged his sword through Ghostbur’s chest and the totem clenched desperately in his hand started to glow, along with the altar he was standing on. 

This was different.

Phil let go of the sword and left it in Ghostbur’s fucking chest, backing away from the altar with wide eyes. Ghostbur watched with awe as the totem spun around him in the air, as it seemed almost confused about what to heal. The totem darted out from Ghostbur for just a moment before speeding straight into his chest, right where the sword met his skin. Ghostbur frantically shoved Friend off the altar as his eyebrows raised and his mouth dropped open. He turned to look Tommy directly in the eye as his skin started to glow a bright yellow.

“That’s weird.” It was all Ghostbur managed to get out before flying apart in a shower of golden dust, the sword clattering to the ground.

The entire crater was completely silent. No one dared to breathe. Then Friend let out a mournful baa and the collective group seemed to slump in place. Fundy was the first to break the silence.

“How will we know if it worked?” He was looking toward Eret but turned toward Phil, like he wasn’t sure who would be able to answer him.

“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if he reforms. Or respawns.” It was Eret who answered, as Phil still seemed to be stuck in place staring at where his son had disappeared.

Tommy still couldn’t breathe. If this whole endeavor had failed. If Ghostbur was gone for good, he wasn’t sure what he would do. Tubbo started murmuring beside him to remind him to breathe, taking his limp hand in his own and rubbing the back. Tommy took in a shuddering breath and squeezed Tubbo’s hand in return.

The area started to fill with quiet whispering, like no one wanted to be too loud in case it ruined the ritual. Then a quiet ping sounded from everyone’s chat.

Wilbur Soot was slain by Philza

Tommy vaguely heard someone ask “What does that mean?” before the ringing in his ears drowned everything out. The totem should have kept Ghostbur from dying. If he died that meant it didn’t work. The bed he had set his spawn in was just outside of the crater, which meant that if he’d respawned there he would’ve been back by now. But he wasn’t which meant he didn’t respawn. Which meant he died for real. Which meant he was gone for good, and Tommy had lost one of the only people who cared about him for a second time.

Before he could stop himself, Tommy was lunging across the crater toward Phil screaming profanities.

If anyone asked him, Tommy wouldn’t have been able to tell them what he was even saying. It just spewed out of his mouth in an endless stream as Phil retaliated with what Tommy was sure were terrible excuses even though he couldn’t register them or his response. He thought he heard Fundy yelling from somewhere, and Quackity was shouting something too but Tommy honestly didn’t remember who was even present. Tubbo was somewhere behind him and it seemed like he was trying to calm him down because his hand was still clenched in Tommy's fingers which probably hurt, so he painfully uncurled his fingers and Tubbo backed away.

Tommy thought he might have been crying but he wasn’t really sure.

He finally resurfaced when he realized the only one yelling was him, and Phil’s face was turning a dangerous shade of purple. 

With a yell of “That’s fucking it!” Phil lunged toward him, and suddenly Tommy was back in Logsteadshire with Dream’s hand wrapped around his arm in a painful grip. Tommy started to sink toward the ground while fumbling for the straps on his armor before noticing he wasn’t wearing any.

He looked up to see Ghostbur standing across from Dream on the beach, and he seemed angry. Of course he was angry, he had to deal with Tommy for so long he was probably fed up with how fucking useless he was. Tommy felt like he was underwater and Dream was still holding his arm in a death grip and he couldn’t get away and he was going to take the rest of his things and destroy them and then probably kill him and Ghostbur was just going to watch and even though Tommy understood why he couldn’t help but feel scared of dying and he wouldn’t get to see Tubbo again and then he felt the hand slip off of his arm and he fell toward the ground.

Someone was talking to him and he thought it might have been Ghostbur.

“Tommy do you know where you are?”

Why were they asking him he was obviously in Logsteadshire?

“Toms do you know who I am?”

Only a few people ever called him Toms, so he looked up at who was talking.

“You’re Ghostbur.” He couldn’t seem to make his voice louder than a whisper.

Ghostbur seemed a bit upset at his answer which was weird. “Do you know who that is?” He was pointing at the green figure next to Tommy.

“Dream.” It fell from his lips without thought because not answering or acknowledging Dream meant pain.

“No Tommy. That’s Philza. You know Phil, remember? He’s our father?” Tommy scrunched his eyebrows together, but shifted his attention to the one in question anyway.

Sure enough it was Phil. Though he had no idea why he was in Logstead. He’d never visited before. But the landscape was different now too. Rock and dirt replaced sand as he swept his gaze around the crater and uncurled his fingers from his hair and wondered when they’d gotten there. He recognized the altar and remembered ‘Oh yeah, the resurrection.’

The resurrection.

That failed. 

But Ghostbur was here.

His eyes snapped back the man crouched in front of him and realized his skin wasn’t grey and his eyes weren’t blank. The yellow sweater had a much larger hole than before and his feet were making crunching noises on the gravel.

Then Tommy launched himself into his brother’s real and living arms and let himself sob.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was a monster I have no idea how I managed to crank it out in only a few hours. 
> 
> Don't worry, Wilbur is gonna go ape shit on these mfs next chapter


	3. Wilbur tries to be intimidating while being cuddled by a child almost as big as him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw/
> 
> Panic attack

Wilbur scrambled down the lip of the crater while everyone else’s heads whipped toward the sound of his shout. Several of them called out to him, but they were easy to ignore as Phil was still grabbing Tommy’s fucking arm. Somehow he still hadn’t let go even though the journey down to the altar was several seconds long.

It seemed he was frozen in shock.

The fucker.

Wilbur stopped a small distance away from the pair so as not to scare Tommy, who looked like he was entirely missing from the present and could shatter at any moment. He was still trying to slip onto the ground, but Phil’s grip (which looked to have only tightened as Wilbur got closer) was keeping him upright.

The asswipe in question had apparently decided to impersonate a fish, with his wide eyes and dropped jaw. 

“Wilbur?” he asked, as if it could’ve been anyone else.

Wilbur responded through clenched teeth. “Let go of my brother you fucking donut.” Watching as Phil seemed to realize he was leaving bruises on his youngest’s arm, and finally releasing the poor boy.

Tommy dropped to the ground and immediately threaded his fingers through his hair and started pulling, as his eyes stayed locked on the ground, blank and unfocused.

People were still whispering and shuffling about the area, obviously wanting to talk to Wilbur, but he was much too focused on bringing his little brother out of whenever he’d wandered off too. He squatted down and started trying to get any sort of reaction from him.

“Tommy can you hear me? It’s Wilbur. I need you to show that you can hear me in some way. No one here is going to hurt you anymore, Toms. You’re safe. Tommy? Are my words getting through to you in any way?”

Tommy finally twitched, and his eyes looked a little more focused, though they didn’t leave where they were fixed on the ground. Wilbur counted it as a win.

“Tommy do you know where you are?”

Tommy’s forehead crinkled in response like he was thinking hard about how to answer. Time to move onto something simpler then.

“Toms do you know who I am?” That definitely triggered something. Dull blue eyes slowly traveled up his form and stopped on his face. Wilbur had to strain his ears to hear the response.

“You’re Ghostbur.” Well it wasn’t exactly right, but it was close enough. Next question.

“Do you know who that is?” He pointed at Phil, who was standing off to the side with a confused scowl on his face and fists at his side.

“Dream.” The response this time was immediate, and the eyes never left Wilbur’s face. Wilbur’s face fell into a concerned frown before he schooled his features again. He needed to be careful of triggering something else.

“No Tommy. That’s Phil. You know Phil, remember? He’s our father?” This apparently was the hardest thing to believe, as Tommy’s gaze flicked over to Phil and his expression grew more concentrated.

He looked like he was warring with himself, flickering between confused and relieved several times. Wilbur waited about thirty seconds for Tommy’s brain to comprehend his surroundings. Much brighter blue eyes found his again. They slid over his form, stopping on his hair, his clothes, his feet, before locking with his eyes again.

Wilbur barely had time to brace himself before he was nearly tackled to the ground by his overly enthusiastic brother. Instead he shifted so he was sitting completely on the ground rather than crouched awkwardly. Tommy’s back shook, so he rubbed it while making shooshing noises into his hair.

Over Tommy’s head, Wilbur scanned the crowd of people who had decided that the best course of action when watching a literal child having a panic attack was to just stand and stare. You’d think they’d seen a ghost. 

Well at least Wilbur hadn’t lost his sense of humour.

“We can do reunions later, yes? I’m a bit preoccupied at the moment if you couldn’t tell.”

Slowly the gawkers slunk away from the crater, with a few notable stragglers. Wilbur made eye contact with Phil.

“I will speak to you later.” He did his best to not sound too angry, as to not upset the boy in his arms, but his words were definitely more clipped than before. “Go away.” was in response to the man not leaving immediately.

Wilbur's gaze shifted to Technoblade, who hadn’t moved from his lurking spot in the shadows. He didn’t say anything to him, just jerked his head in the direction that Phil had gone, glaring at the hybrid in a silent dare to overstay his welcome. Techno huffed and moved to follow Phil.

Tubbo and Ranboo were the only others left in the crater. They were slowly picking their way up to the top, looking back frequently as if to check that Tommy and Wilbur were still there. They obviously didn’t want to leave, as they were moving at about half the speed of everyone else.

Wilbur sighed. “You two. Come back please.”

They scrambled back to the altar before stopping short, fidgeting and glancing at Tommy worriedly.

“Welcome back, Wilbur.” Tubbo really was a sweet kid.

“Thanks Tubbo. You can come here, but you’re on thin fucking ice.”

Tubbo took a step back, obviously not expecting to be immediately chastised. Wilbur lifted one of his arms to allow Tubbo into what had quickly turned into a cuddling session. Tommy had stopped crying at this point and his eyelashes were fluttering but not closing completely. Tubbo cautiously kneeled down and settled into the embrace of a man who’d become almost as much his brother as Tommy’s.

“Thanks.” Tubbo’s eyes were getting shinier. “I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay Tubbo. I know you’re just a kid. Just do better next time, okay?”

“Okay.” And there were the tears.

Wilbur’s attention shifted to Ranboo, who stood awkwardly trying not to stare, but obviously wanting to know what was going on. Geez this kid was tall. His limbs looked way too long for his body.

“It’s nice to meet you Ranboo. I’m Wilbur.” Might as well start diplomatically.

“Yeah I- I know. We’ve kinda met before.” He’d unconsciously started rubbing his arm.

“I just wanted to thank you for what you did for Tommy while he was in exile. Your visits helped a lot, even if it didn’t end up being enough.”

Ranboo blushed. “You’re welcome i guess. I just- well- Tommy helped me out when i first joined the server so… I guess I just felt like he didn’t deserve that.”

Wilbur nodded. “So you live with Phil and Techno, yeah?” The question was asked innocently enough.  
Ranboo still stiffened.

“Uh, yeah? I guess? I just kinda happened, I dunno. They seemed like- they’ve been alright. I…” He trailed off, unsure.

The kid was stumbling over his words, trying to spit them all out at the same time and ending up sounding rushed and out of breath. Wilbur decided he liked him.

“I’m going to give you a piece of advice, Ranboo. Do with it what you will. Get out. Get out now. Those two don’t know how to deal with anything they don’t understand and they definitely don’t understand children. As soon as you can’t keep up they’ll toss you to the curb and make you feel like it was your fault.”

The silence that followed was deafening.

“Wh-why are you telling me this?”

“You’re a good kid, Ranboo. They’ve ruined enough good kids.” Wilbur looked down at the now asleep Tommy, and Tubbo who seemed content to lean against his best friend’s shoulder. 

Ranboo didn’t seem to know how to respond to that, so Wilbur came to his rescue. 

“Alright, I’m going to get these two back to Tommy’s house. Goodnight Ranboo.”

“...goodnight.” Came the muttered reply before Ranboo was gone.

“Tubbo I’m going to carry Tommy, can you walk on your own?”

Tubbo hummed in response and heaved himself up off the ground, reaching down to help pull Wilbur up to make sure he didn’t drop Tommy. The kid was entirely too light to be as lanky as he was, so it was easier than it should’ve been.

Tubbo settled into step next to him and grabbed onto the sleeve of his yellow sweater like he couldn’t bear to not have the contact of another person, but Wilbur's hands were occupied making sure that Tommy's arms didn’t slide off of his shoulders and his legs stayed around his waist. The trip back to Tommy’s dumb dirt hut was silent and uneventful, but nice all the same.

Fuck, these kids were going to be the death of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That one was really hard to write for some reason
> 
> I think it turned out well enough


	4. The long awaited one-sided shouting match

Getting the boys back to the house was easy enough.

Getting Tommy off of where he’d latched onto his chest was a different story.

They eventually had to replace Wilbur with Tubbo so Tommy could have someone to hold onto while he slept. The two settled into the only bed in Tommy’s house, Tubbo trying to maneuver Tommy into a somewhat comfortable position while still being clung too.

When Tubbo finally fell asleep, Wilbur went into the main room and started rifling through his little brother’s chests. The selection was strangely sparse, until he found the storage room under the floor. It looked like Tommy had tried to sort things into categories but gave up about half way through, as each chest was labeled but only some of them contained what they said they did.

He found a lead and dropped his head into his hands. 

He forgot Friend at the altar.

That was a task for tomorrow. Friend would be alright for the night.

Wilbur somehow found everything he wanted within the mess and eventually was able to cook himself some food, which he took into the bedroom and ate while sitting in the chair in the corner he’d hastily cobbled together. Eating was weird. He hadn’t been able to really eat for a while now and the single baked potato he’d made for himself was almost overwhelming.

Now that he was sitting down and didn’t have to worry about his family, he noticed his legs and arms were extremely sore. He was having a hard time staying upright, and each blink seemed longer than the last. Apparently being resurrected takes a lot out of a person.

Wilbur’s head shot up to the sound of a knock on the door. Stumbling into the main room, he could see faint light coming through the door. He’d fallen asleep. In a weird position if the crick in his neck was to be believed.

Whoever was outside wasn’t very patient. They knocked again even though it hadn’t taken long to get from the bedroom to here. Wilbur could see a green and white striped hat through the window.

He’d hoped to not have to deal with this so soon. Or ever.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed as he psyched himself up to confronting his absent father.

Phil kept knocking on the door.

Wilbur wrenched open the door. “Can you stop that? The kids are sleeping.”

Phil had the nerve to look surprised. “What are you doing here?”

That caught Wilbur off guard. Where did he expect him to be? Why was he even here if not looking for him?

“Where, exactly, did you think that I would be?”

“I thought yo-”

Wilbur cut him off. “Not many places I could've gone, since you blew up my house.”

Phil stepped back. “Well that-”

“The real question is what are you doing here? If you weren’t looking for me, what reason do you have for coming to Tommy? You’ve made it perfectly fucking clear that you don’t give a shit about him! If you think for one second-”

“I came to check on him, alright?”

No one spoke for a moment.

“Are you… fucking kidding me?”

Phil startled at the malice in Wilbur’s voice.

“He was alone for weeks in the middle of nowhere, within a days journey of where you were living. You knew this. You knew where he was. You decided to spend your time building Techno a fucking bee farm while your literal son was being fucking gaslighted within riding distance. Then later you think ‘Hmm, my friend is going to do the same fucked up thing Wilbur did and destroy the lives and possessions of an entire nation of people. Well I condemned Wilbur when he did it, but this time the person who’s doing it is someone I actually care about! So I guess I’ll just have to go against my only remaining son and join forces with his fucking abuser!’ And who do you decide to blame for this entire situation? Is it the disgusting manipulator who drove your son to suicide? No? Well then what about your old buddy? You know, the guy that kills people en-masse every time they disagree with them? No again? Oh yeah! It’s the literal child whose home you just destroyed! The one that, if you’ve forgotten again, is your own fucking son. I guess if he didn’t want his home to be destroyed, he shouldn’t have made it out of anything that can be broken! So now that you’ve finally been confronted with undeniable evidence of your royal fuckups, you think that you’re allowed to feel guilty enough to act like you care at all about him? How dare you. You’re a terrible person and somehow you still managed to be an even worse father.”

Phil looked crestfallen “I- I didn’t know.”

Wilbur fixed him with the most incredulous look he could muster. “Phil if you didn’t know then you were purposefully ignoring the signs. All Tommy ever wanted was for you to pay attention to him. Why do you think he always tried to be like Techno?”

Phil obviously didn’t know how to answer that.

“Fuck off Phil. Go suck Techno’s dick or something.”

Then he turned around and addressed the roof.

“And you. Get the fuck off Tommy’s roof you useless fuckin pork chop.”

Techno dropped to the ground to Wilbur’s right. He looked entirely unbothered as usual, which was just infuriating. He loomed over Wilbur, standing entirely too close. There was a beat as they both stared at each other. Techno was the one that broke first.

“Tommy betrayed me. He knew what my end goal was.”

Wilbur narrowed his eyes. “Wow, the traumatized child didn’t want to believe that his childhood hero would purposefully destroy his home and kill his friends. You must have been really surprised when he changed his mind after he realized he was turning into the guy that murdered his best friend in cold blood in front of an entire country, and that you were fully intending to do it again. You disgust me. You only paid attention to Tommy when you could control him. All you had to do was tell him he was doing a good job and he’d do anything you asked. Your entire schtick is bullshit. You act as though you’re doing everyone a huge favor while you murder them in the streets for daring to go against your word.” 

Techno’s grip on his axe tightened, his stance growing stiffer.

“Oh, does that make you angry, Technoblade? Someone finally calling you out on your bullshit? If you kill me the whole server will turn against you and you know it. You won last time, but how do you think you’d fair without Dream to do all the heavy lifting?”

Techno was visibly shaking at this point, but he pulled himself together and stepped back toward Phil. His glare never left Wilbur.

“I liked you better when you were dead.”

“I bet you did. I was easy to manipulate.”

Wilbur gestured to Phil, who’d moved back toward the prime path.

“You’d better go. I think your bitch is waiting for a dick to suck.”

With that Wilbur turned back into the house and slammed the door before sliding down the wall and putting his head in his hands. Techno and Phil could easily make their lives a living hell.

Why the fuck did he do that?


	5. Tommy has a nice afternoon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is super short and entirely self indulgent
> 
> It's also just fluff
> 
> I just wanted a break from anything serious for a bit

Tommy blinked awake in his own bed.

He was facing the wall, and his chin was resting on top of Tubbo’s head, the smaller boy curled up against his chest. Oh Tubbo’s here. That’s nice.

He still felt incredibly groggy, so he just snuggled closer and closed his eyes again.

Then he heard a bleating noise behind him.

His eyes flew open as a quiet shushing noise followed. His eyebrows furrowed, and he slowly turned his head to look toward the door.

Why was Friend in his house?

Someone came through the door and he startled. 

“Fuck!” He jolted so hard he almost fell off of the bed, and it was only having Tubbo as a counterweight that kept him from eating dirt. Though he inadvertently scared Tubbo awake in the process, which made him shout in surprise and squirm toward the edge of the bed. Tommy found he no longer had any room, so he tightened his grip on Tubbo to try to stay on. Unfortunately the only effect this had was that both of them ended up in a pile on the floor as opposed to just Tommy. It was just his luck that he ended up on the bottom.

Laughter started from somewhere near the door. Wilbur came into view, leaning over their prone forms and holding his stomach.

“Sorry, sorry! Was trying to be quiet and let you guys sleep some more, but Friend has just been so excited this morning.” His grin softened into a fond smile. “Good morning.” 

Tommy’s vision started to go blurry. Tubbo scrambled off of him and jumped to hug him with a shout of “Wilbur!”

“Hey Tubbo!” Wilbur caught the small boy and hugged him back just as hard. “We didn’t get to talk a lot last night did we?” 

Tommy stared at them from the floor, trying not to cry like a pussy. He couldn’t believe he cried like a bitch in front of Phil and Technoblade last night. They probably thought he was a fuckin embarrassment. Hopefully things would get better now though, cause Wilbur was here.

“Tommy?” It was weird to hear his voice without that stupid echo. “Do you want a hug as well?”

Tommy didn’t trust himself to say anything without his voice cracking, so he just nodded. Wilbur kneeled on the floor next to him, and he pulled himself up to lean into his older brother's embrace.

Wilbur is here and he is real. He is not another hallucination. He is real and physical and he can touch him.

Tommy felt himself relax as Wilbur squeezed him like he cared about him. Like he mattered. That’s nice.

“Now I know I said it was morning, but that was a bit of a lie. It’s actually a little after noon. Are you two hungry?” Wilbur smiled down at him.

He nodded again.

Wilbur frowned. “Are you alright?”

“I’m great. Never better.” he replied, making no move to get up.

Wilbur’s lips quirked, amused. “Well I’m going to go make you guys some lunch. I can’t do that with you stuck to me.” the smile turned into a smirk. “Unless you want me to carry you.”

That got his attention. He scrambled up and glared as Wilbur rose to his feet. “Fuck you, bitch! I’m a big man, not a fuckin child!”

Wilbur snorted and ruffled his hair. “I know Tommy.”

They made their way to the main room, and if Tommy walked as close to Wilbur as he could manage without being completely underfoot, who was going to call him out on it? And if he grabbed Tubbo’s hand and pulled him along wherever he went for the rest of the afternoon, who cares?

Tommy ate lunch sandwiched between his best friend and his long lost brother. He sighed and subtly sank into the warmth.

That’s nice.


	6. More fluff because you can't tell me what to do

After seeing Philza and Techno, and then having to painstakingly retrieve Friend from the middle of a giant crater, Wilbur figured his first full day back would be pretty shitty. Luckily having Tommy and Tubbo around definitely saved it. 

Tommy spent the entire rest of the day attached to his side, like he would disappear if he wasn’t within four feet of him at all times. It was incredibly endearing, if somewhat sad. Whichever side of Tommy’s that wasn’t glued to him at the moment had his hand wrapped around Tubbo. He’d switch hands periodically whenever their linked hands got too sweaty. 

Tommy pretty much banned them from leaving his house for the foreseeable future. Any time either of them even looked like they were going toward the door, he would tense up and make up some reason to move them all further into the house. Tubbo obviously noticed as well, as neither of them mentioned anything about it, both humoring the boy for the day and making sure he felt comfortable. They spent the day lounging around the tiny dirt hut, talking and laughing and generally just being together. Wilbur was surprised that no one else stopped by the house to try and talk to him, but he wasn’t complaining.

When night fell, Tommy was obviously reluctant to go to bed. He tried and failed to suppress any yawns and made an effort to be as energetic as possible. Wilbur thought it might have been because he didn’t want them to leave tomorrow. He leaned back in his chair.

“Well, it’s nearly midnight. I think it’d be a good idea to go to bed.”

Tommy froze for a split second, before his grin was back in place. “Is it really? I hadn’t even noticed. I bet I wouldn’t even be able to sleep, now. Too full of energy and shit.”

Wilbur smirked at his brother’s word choice. “You’re right, you are full of shit.” He heaved himself out of the chair. “Now go to bed. I’ll still be here in the morning.”

Tommy’s smile disappeared, a frown in its place. “What if I don’t want to, bitch?”

Wilbur exchanged a look with Tubbo, before the both of them surged toward Tommy and lifted him off the ground. He grabbed his torso while Tubbo made sure his long legs couldn’t touch the floor. Tommy squawked and struggled as they laughed and slowly brought him into the bedroom. Tommy screamed expletives and held onto the walls to try and slow their progress.  
They managed to dump him onto the bed, and Tubbo immediately jumped on top of him to pin him there. 

Tommy yelled, indignant. “You’re a fuckin traitor, Tubbo! How could you!” but his grin told a different story as he started to laugh as well.

Wilbur watched the two boys wrestle, and moved back toward the main room.

“Wait!” That was Tubbo surprisingly. He turned around to both boys staring at him with wide eyes. He forgot that Tubbo had been messed up almost as much as Tommy. He gave them a reassuring smile.

“I’ll be right back.” He kept his word, and was back a few minutes later. Tommy had rearranged them so his back was to the wall, and Tubbo was laying in front of him, staring at the ceiling. They both turned as he entered the room. He smiled at them before placing the blue bed he’d just made with Friend’s wool right next to Tommy's original red one.  
Tommy tried to scowl at him. “What if I don’t want your gross arse sleeping next to me and Big T?”

Wilbur tilted his head. “Well I guess I can take this to the other room if you want.” He moved to pick up the bed again. Tubbo shoved Tommy.

“Stop being stupid.” He turned toward Wilbur. “He thinks he’s been too clingy all day, so he’s trying to act all tough to make up for it. He’d probably cry if you left.”

Tommy squawked indignantly. “I am not clingy! You’re the one who’s been holding my hand all day!” Wilbur and Tubbo exchanged a look at that. “And I’ve never cried in my entire life! Even when I were an infant!”

Wilbur and Tubbo stared at Tommy as he glared back in defiance. Then Tubbo sighed. “Wilbur, will you please keep your bed in here? I don’t want you to leave as I am a clingy bitch.”

Tommy nodded once, “It’s decided then. Wilby will be allowed to sleep in the great Tommyinnit’s room, as long as he stays in his own bed, because Tubbo has nightmares and shit.” He then flopped onto the bed with much more force than necessary and curled up facing the wall.

Wilbur didn’t dare mention that he’d called him Wilby.

Hours later, Wilbur woke up to Tubbo curled into his side, and Tommy pressed against the smaller boy, his arm and leg reaching all the way over him and onto Wilbur. He ran his fingers through Tommy’s hair, kissed Tubbo on the forehead, and drifted back to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter should have some actual plot for once


	7. Future Plans

When Wilbur woke up again in the morning, he was almost falling off the bed. At some point in the night, Tubbo had stretched out all of his limbs as far as they could go, and was pushing him off the side of the bed, and Tommy into the wall. Tommy had also managed to flip completely and had his feet up by their heads, and his face next to Tubbo’s feet.

Wilbur supposed he shouldn’t have expected any different.

While he was by the furnace making breakfast, the two boys stumbled into the main room and slumped into chairs. They each ate breakfast in silence for a while as they woke up. 

“I think I should go back to Snowchester today.” Tubbo’s comment made Tommy jump, whether from being startled by the silence breaking, or because he didn’t want Tubbo to leave, Wilbur didn’t know. He visibly calmed himself.

“Why’s that, Big Man?” His eyes were trained on his food, not looking at Tubbo.

Tubbo winced “Well, I left Jack in charge, and even though Jack is great, it’s my settlement, and I should probably be the one running it.” he paused and thought for a moment. “And I should probably go work on the nukes some more.”

Wilbur felt himself physically reel. “I’m sorry, what? The what? You have to work on what?”

Tubbo blinked like he realized he’d said something he probably shouldn’t have. “Uh, the uh,” he looked at Tommy, who made a face at him, and slumped like he noticed he didn’t have a way out of explaining. “The nukes we’re making.” He then looked up at Wilbur in a panic. “Not- not to use on anyone! They’re just a deterrent! So that… in case someone gets too powerful they know not to mess with Snowchester!” He seemed to realize that Wilbur looked decidedly unimpressed. “We’re calling it Project Dreamcatcher!”

There was a beat of dead silence. “It seemed like a good idea at the time?”

Wilbur stared at him for a few seconds to really drive home the fact that everything the boy said was stupid. Then he took a moment to close his eyes and pinch the bridge of his nose before sighing. “I guess we’re taking a trip to Snowchester then.”

Tubbo flailed. “You don’t have to come! Well, you can if you want to, but you don’t have to! But you really don’t need to, I’ve got everything under control, everything's perfectly safe, and only me and Jack can access Dreamcatcher cause we’re the only ones with keycards, so no one else could ever use them. So there’s really no reason for you to go all the way to Snowchester, it’s fine!” he ended his ramble with what was probably supposed to be a reassuring smile.

“There’s plenty of reason for me to go all the way to Snowchester.” Wilbur began calmly, “I’m going to come with you, and we’re going to dismantle that entire project. Nuclear weapons only bring destruction, the only thing they do is kill people. Then, we’re going to put Jack in charge of the city for the foreseeable future, and I’m going to help you pack all of your things.”

Tubbo’s eyes started to well up, his eyebrows scrunching together. He opened his mouth to respond, but Wilbur held up his hand.

“Let me finish. Tubbo you aren’t in trouble. I understand wanting a way to fight back against people that hurt you, I get it. But that kind of weapon existing can only cause problems. If someone else got their hands on them they could cause so much more pain than has ever been caused on this server. It’s better to not even have the risk.” Tubbo had calmed down some, but still looked fairly upset.

“Now, about packing your things.” Wilbur took a breath to steel himself. “I didn’t want to bring this up so soon, but I think it would be best for the three of us to leave. The people on this server tend to be… rash. They do things before they think of the consequences and how other people will feel. And that includes myself. You two have been through so much more than anyone your age should ever have to.” He paused and frowned at the floor. “A lot of that was my fault, and I’m sorry for that.”

He turned his attention back to Tubbo. “Tubbo, you’re amazing. You always try to do what’s best for the people you care about, no matter how much it hurts. You’re a wonderful leader, but the problem is that you shouldn’t have to be. You’re barely seventeen kid, and making you president was a terrible decision on my part. Not because you did a bad job, because you definitely were the best president L’manberg had, but because you didn’t deserve to be put through that kind of stress.”

Tubbo was openly crying at this point, but was staring at Wilbur like he held the secrets to the universe. Tommy pressed himself into Tubbo’s side.

“You guys deserve a break for once. And I mean a real break, not an exile, not a temporary peace that’ll be broken in a few days. A real life far away from here, with nobody who wants to hurt you, and tons of bees and cows.” Wilbur looked between the both of them. Tubbo rubbed at his eyes, but seemed relieved to hear that he didn’t have to be in charge of anything any more. 

Tommy still seemed uncertain. “But… what about-” he cut himself off, then started again in a soft voice. “What about my discs?”

Wilbur felt his gaze somehow soften even further. The discs. How could he have forgotten. “Dream has them now, yes?” Tommy nodded. “What Dream wants is power. I know how much those discs mean to you, and so does he. If he destroys them or gets rid of them he no longer has any power over you. They’ll be okay until we get back.”

Tommy’s brow furrowed “But-”

“I promise, Tommy.”

The fight left him, and he leaned further into Tubbo. “Okay. Okay I’ll go.” 

Tubbo sat up a little “How long do you think we’ll be gone?”

“I don’t know.” Wilbut thought about it for a moment. “As long as you need to be gone, really. I would like it to be at least until you’re both eighteen.”

Tommy spluttered. “That’s two years from now! We can’t leave for two years!”

Wilbur backpedaled, “We’ll see how it works out, alright? Give it a few months and if you really want to leave after, we’ll come back.”

This seems to placate the blond. “Alright. Three months.”

“Three months from when we get wherever we go.”

“Ugh, fiiiiiinuh. Three months from then.”

“Thank you. Now Tubbo, you’re going to have to show me where Snowchester is because I don’t think I’ve ever actually been.”

Tubbo’s eyes lit up, “It’s really nice! I’m trying to have every building match, and I used spruce and stone blocks and polished andesite, and I think it looks really good!”

Wilbur couldn’t help but grin. “I’m sure it looks fantastic, Tubbo. Tommy do you want to come with, or do you want to start packing all your things here?”

Tommy considered for a moment. “I guess I’d better get all my shit together here. You guys go ahead.”

“You know you’re welcome to come if you want, Tommy. Don’t think that because this is for Tubbo that you can’t come.” Wilbur wanted to make sure he didn’t feel left out.

The kid smiled a bit sadly. “I know. I just want to get my thoughts in order. Say goodbye to the house, you know?”

This could barely be called a house, but Wilbur understood. “If you’re sure. C’mon Tubbo!”

Tubbo considered Wilbur’s ratty jeans and hastily repaired yellow sweater, “We’ll have to pick up a good coat for you on the way. It’s pretty cold there.”

“Okay we’ll do that on the way.” He turned around in the doorway. “Bye Tommy! Stay out of trouble!”

“I have no control in the matter.”

“Fair.”

They left toward Snowchester, Tubbo chatting his ear off the entire way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty heavy on the dialogue, but at least it's plot


	8. Wilbur shouts some more

Snowchester was just about the most charming little town Wilbur had ever seen. It was nestled in the snow and fit in like it’d spawned there, with the spruce logs and snow covering everything. He could see how much care was put into every block from the moment he’d set eyes on it.

“This is fantastic, Tubbo! It looks great!” he smiled down at the small boy.

Tubbo grinned back up at him. “Thanks! I’ve been working on a path that goes straight to the main SMP with soul sand. Did you know that if you have soul speed boots and dolphin’s grace, you can run faster than a boat on ice?”

Wilbur let him ramble as they approached the main house. Tubbo opened the door, but stopped in the doorway and tilted his head like he was considering something. “Do you want to pack first, or see the project?”

Wilbur sucked in a breath. Right. Nukes. “Let’s go see the project.”

Tubbo turned them around and led him to an unassuming building nearby. It looked exactly like the others, which was probably why it hid in plain sight so well. He opened the door and Wilbur saw the lab that nearly created the most deadly objects ever conceived on the server. Stray parts were strewn about the tables, but the main focus was in the center of the room.

The nuke was huge. It was taller than Wilbur, and it wasn’t even finished. He reached out to touch the shell before thinking better of it and letting his hand drop to his side. “So how do we dismantle this?”

Tubbo gently grabbed his wrist and steered him toward the far wall. “You can start with destroying these extra bits and scraps. I’ll take care of the main weapon.” he winced “You’re not exactly known for your… delicacy.”

“That’s fair.” Wilbur rolled up his sleeves and made his way over to the tables piled with scraps of metal and tools. Then he noticed that Tubbo hadn’t moved. He turned toward him fully. “Are you alright?”

Tubbo was staring up at the massive rocket with a disappointed look on his face. He dropped his gaze to the floor before responding. “I’m fine. Just… this has been all I’ve worked on for weeks.”

Wilbur understood. “I get it Tubbo. But trust me when I say that you can’t let yourself be consumed by this.”

Tubbo sighed. “Yeah…” Then he straightened up and started to dismantle the missile.

They worked for hours, taking apart larger pieces so they would be small enough to fit in the incinerator. Wilbur’s main job was toting metal to the hole in the corner of the floor and dumping it into the pit of lava. Tubbo slowly and carefully divided the nuke into safely destructible scrap, then Wilbur would take it to the lava. Eventually they only had the stands and a few larger chunks of metal scattered around. Then the door creaked open. Both of them turned toward the sound.

Jack Manifold stuck his head inside, his eyes widening when he saw the lack of weapons. “What are you doing? What the fuck? Wilbur?”

Tubbo straightened up and turned to face his second in command. “Hey Jack.” he sounded tired. “The nukes were a mistake. We’re destroying them.”

Jack looked shocked. And slightly constipated. “But the contingency plan. What are we going to do if someone decides to attack us? Like, I dunno, Dream?”

“He won’t.” Wilbur stepped into Jack’s field of vision. “Tubbo, Tommy, and I are leaving. With us gone he has no reason to antagonize Snowchester. As long as you don’t declare independence while we’re gone.”

Jack looked angry now. “Oh, so you come back from the dead and decide that you’re in charge again? Why the fuck would I listen to you, shithead?” he turned to Tubbo, “This is the motherfucker that fucking blew up L’manberg Tubbo! Did you forget that or something?”

“Blowing up L’manberg became a weekend activity for people with too much TNT and time on their hands.” Tubbo somehow sounded even more exhausted. “We’ve talked. He’s not crazy anymore. I want to leave, and I’m not leaving behind weapons of mass destruction with only one person in charge of them. Just calm down, Jack.”

Jack stepped forward and opened his mouth to yell at Tubbo more, but Wilbur put a hand on his chest to keep him in place. He looked down though Jack’s red and blue glasses and into his eyes. Wilbur was somewhat proud that he still had the ability to make people incredibly intimidated with his height and piercing gaze.

“Let’s continue this little chat outside, yeah? Wouldn’t you rather talk out where it’s cool instead of in here with the heat? I think that sounds much more pleasant.” Jack broke eye contact first.

“Fine.” he ground out, before storming out the door.

Wilbur let out a breath. “Tubbo you finish up in here, alright? I’ll deal with Jack.” Tubbo simply nodded. Then started dragging one of the larger pieces left toward the lava.

Wilbur found Jack pacing back and forth in the snow, making sweeping gestures as if he were arguing with someone, and angrily jabbing at his communicator. When he caught sight of Wilbur exiting the building he stormed over.

“How dare you! You show up after being dead for months and just decide you get to dictate what people do? I know this was your plan, Tubbo was fully on board before you came back. Everything was going exactly the way it was supposed to and you just had to step in and ruin it!” he stepped back and started shouting into the air, like he’d forgotten that Wilbur was even there. “If we don’t have nukes and they’re gone, it’ll ruin fucking everything! We’re gonna have to start over from square fucking one, I can’t fucking believe it!” He finished his rant with a wordless yell into the sky.

Jack rounded on Wilbur, grabbing the front of his coat and trying to pull him down, before just having to talk up at him. “What’s your plan for this? Are you getting them out of the way for something? Are you working with Dream again?”

Wilbur stared down at him, unimpressed, before reaching up and uncurling the other’s fingers from his lapel. “Are you finished?” Jack glared at him. “Good. I’m going to tell you what’s going to happen, and you’re going to listen. My brothers have been through hell and back. They have literally never known peace. The three of us are leaving so I can teach them. We don’t know where we’ll end up, and we won’t be telling anyone where we are when we get there. I’m going to keep them away from this hellhole of a server and everyone in it for as long as possible, or as long as I can keep Tommy away from his discs. We’ll come back when Tubbo learns to tell people when he feels like he’s going to pass out from being overwhelmed and exhausted, and when Tommy doesn’t flinch every time someone moves and he wasn’t expecting it. When my sixteen year old brother doesn’t stare at lava like he wants to give it a hug.” 

His voice had been slowly rising throughout his entire speech. “I fucked those kids up! I gave them those problems, this is my fault! So I am going to do everything in my power to fix it! And heaven help anyone who tries to hurt either of them! So tell me Jack.” his voice dropped in both pitch and volume, to the point that most would call it menacing. “Why, exactly, you are so obsessed with having nuclear weapons if you never intend to use them. And why this plan of yours is so dependent upon my kid brothers being here with them.”

Jack shrunk back. He looked like he might piss himself, and that made Wilbur feel slightly guilty but also incredibly smug. Jack floundered for a few moments before steeling himself and glaring at the snow covered ground. “Nothing. There’s no plan. Can I speak to Tubbo now?” 

Wilbur stepped up to Jack and put his hand on his shoulder, leaning slightly so he was closer in height to the other. “Jack, I know that you’ve been through a lot as well. You were a kid when you were dragged into this mess as well. But you at least grew up outside of all of this chaos, you know what it’s like to be at peace. These kids literally don’t remember not being in some sort of conflict. I expect them to not know how to solve their problems without violence, but I expect more of you. I don’t know what you had planned, but I do know that it wouldn’t have been worth it. Take the advice of someone who wanted destruction and murder, and succeeded. It won’t make you happy.” 

He gave his shoulder a few pats. “And no. You can’t talk to Tubbo. Not until I can be sure that you won’t stab him in the back.”

Jack exploded. “I would never hurt Tubbo! He’s done nothing to deserve it!” Wilbur narrowed his eyes.

“So the one you wanted to get rid of is Tommy. I guess I should have expected that. Either way you’re not getting anywhere near Tubbo.” Jack’s face contorted.

“Fuck you, Wilbur!” he turned around and started to stomp away. 

Wilbur called after him. “And Jack. No one deserves to be murdered.”

Jack just scowled and left.

Back inside, Tubbo had finished dismantling and destroying the entire weapon and was laying flat on his back in the middle of the floor. He didn’t even open his eyes before speaking. “Did Jack leave?”

“Yeah. Is that alright, did you want to speak to him?”

“No. The yelling stopped so I figured he left.” He opened his eyes and peered up at Wilbur through his eyelashes. “I didn’t hear anything you said. Just heard yelling.”

There was a lull in the conversation.

“Do you want to head back to Tommy’s house?” the kid looked like he could fall asleep at any moment.

“We still have to pack up all of my stuff. I can keep going until we finish.”

Wilbur sighed “We don’t have to finish everything up today. You’re allowed to take a break, Tubbo.”

“I know, I just… wanna be done.”

Wilbur could understand that. “Alright, but if you start feeling too tired just stop, yeah?”

They made quick work of packing, both of them wanting to get done as fast as they could. They put everything essential into bags and stored them in Wilbur’s now empty ender chest so they had nothing to carry on the trip back.

As they left Snowchester, Wilbur spotted Jack watching them from on top of one of the houses. He was too far away to see any facial features, but that didn’t stop Wilbur from sticking out his tongue and flipping him the bird.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always get so mad at Jack and Niki until I remember that they're literally still teenagers
> 
> But then I remember that I've never gotten so annoyed at someone that I literally wanted to murder someone and make their best friend think it was their fault and get mad again
> 
> Also I might still be a tad salty about the L'mantree
> 
> We'll explore that later


	9. The Start

When they got back Tommy’s house was almost the same. Same chests and furnaces. The crafting table was missing, but Wilbur couldn’t see anything else out of place. The boy in question was sat on the floor leaning against the wall, his legs spread out in front of him, staring into space. He snapped out of it when they closed the door behind them. 

“How did it go?” He seemed as tired as Wilbur felt.

“Pretty well.” Tubbo answered, rubbing his eyes. “The only hitch was when Jack came in and started yelling.”

Tommy hummed in response, looking toward the far wall as his eyelids drooped.

Wilbur decided to interject. “How about here? It doesn’t look like you’ve packed much at all.”

“Well I started picking shit up, but then I realized that I don’t really care about all this stuff.” he shrugged, “Everything valuable is already in my e-chest. I figured we could replace this junk when we get there.”

“Well then what all did you do, if you didn’t pack?” Wilbur asked.

Tommy shrugged again and didn’t respond.

Wilbur sighed. “Alright let’s get to bed. We could go tomorrow if that’s alright with you two?”

Tommy groaned while heaving himself upwards, using the wall as a support. “Fiiiiine.” he shuffled into the bedroom with Tubbo close behind.

Wilbur dragged a hand down his face. “Why am I doing this again?” he muttered to himself.

He puttered around the living room, sorting things in his enderchest to prepare for the morning. When things generally looked like they were ready to go, he took off his shoes and new jacket, laying the jacket across the table and putting the shoes by the front door. By the time he made his way into the bedroom, the boys were already snuggled under the covers. Tubbo hadn’t even bothered to take off his coat.

Oh yeah. That’s why he was doing this.

As gently as possible he slipped Tubbo’s coat off of his arms and out of bed, shushing the boy when he grumbled in his sleep. Slipping into his own bed, Wilbur realized how tired he was. Sleep came easy.

Waking up was also easy, because at some point in the night Tommy had shifted so that he was entirely on top of Wilbur, and at around eight am jolted upwards and bashed the top of his head into Wilbur’s chin.

“Ow, fuck!” Wilbur held his mouth as Tommy let out a cry of his own and grabbed at his head. The kid looked around wildly, trying to find what had hit him. He propped himself up and in the process put all of his weight directly onto Wilbur’s stomach.

Wilbur shoved him so he’d fall back onto the bed. “What the fuck, Tommy?” he noticed the younger’s wide eyes that were flicking back and forth. They settled onto his own.

“Wilbur?” his eyes filled with tears before he desperately wiped them away with the backs of his hands.

Wilbur sat up. “Toms? What’s wrong, bud?” he gently gathered his lanky form onto his lap. Tommy shook, but seemed bound and determined not to cry. Instead he just fisted his hands into Wilbur’s shirt.

Wilbur buried his hand into the fluffy blond hair and made eye contact with Tubbo, who’d woken up at his initial shout and was staring at the pair of them with hesitation. Wilbur motioned him over and he sat on his right, snuggling into his shoulder. He leaned back to look Tommy in the eye.

“You wanna talk about it?” Tommy shook his head, but then tilted it a bit like he was thinking. He opened his mouth a few times, then closed it and shook his head again.

“Alright mate. If you’re sure. Might as well get up and get going, yeah?” Tubbo sat up higher and turned to face them.

“Which way should we go?” Surprisingly he seemed excited about the coming journey, even though he was apprehensive the night before.

Wilbur swung his legs over the side of the bed. “Well I was thinking we could decide when we’re about to leave. Kind of a spur of the moment sort of thing.” his face twisted into a grimace. “Though I think we should rule out the direction toward Techno’s house and Logstedshire.”

Tommy spoke up. “I second that.”

“Then it’s settled. Any direction that isn’t toward causes of trauma.”

The three of them spent about an hour sorting things into enderchests. Trying to get anything they could fit into them. What was left over was put in bags which were slung over shoulders. Mostly clothes and food, though they also had swords for protection. Tubbo gave Wilbur an extra set of diamond armor that he had as well.

When everything had been packed up or stored into chests for anyone to find and take that wanted it, Tommy spent a few minutes wandering the hut. He ran his hands over the dirt walls and stared forlornly into his chest room in the basement. When he met the other two at the door his eyes were glassy, but neither commented on it.

Before they could leave though, Tubbo gasped and let out a quick “Wait!” before running and rummaging through one of the nearby chests. He triumphantly held up a crumpled piece of paper and a pen, which he carried over to the table. Tommy and Wilbur watched him scribble something on it before he grabbed a small slime ball out of his inventory and stuck it to the top of the table.

He looked sheepishly up at them. “So that if anyone comes looking for us they know we’ve left willingly.”

The note read:  
Weve left and we dont know wen well come back. Dont come looking for us please.  
Love,  
Tubbo Tommy and Wilbur

Wilbur smiled down at Tubbo and ruffled his hair, careful of the small horns near his temples. “It’s great, Tubs. Very thoughtful.” Tubbo beamed.

“Alright let’s get this show on the road!” Wilbur marched back to the door and flung it open in an overly dramatic fashion in the hopes of starting the trip off in an optimistic manner.

It seemed that the world hated him though, as waiting on the prime path were Jack and Niki, both looking extremely irritated. They had obviously just been pulled out of what must have been a very heated discussion, if Niki’s crossed arms and Jack’s clenched fists were anything to go by.

All five of them stood and stared for a beat, and in that moment it felt like the world had stopped. Like the air didn’t move. Because Niki was wearing his cloak. And that gave Wilbur a terrible feeling.

“So it’s true then.” Niki sounded cold and brittle. “You’re leaving. Right after we got you back.” She’d dyed her hair again. Pink this time. It looked nice.

“I have to Niki.” he answered. He hoped it was enough to convince her.

“Of course.” Her eyes flicked behind him, to Tommy, then darkened. “Family comes first after all.” Then she looked back at him. “Though I guess family didn’t matter much to Philza huh? Why do you care about family so much if they bring nothing but pain?” Her eyes were once again on Tommy, and Wilbur really hated all of what she was getting at.

“Philza hasn’t been my father for years. Tommy and Tubbo are children. They need somewhere safe to grow.” He stepped to the side slightly, shielding Tommy from view.

Niki exploded. “We were children! We went through everything that he did, and we dealt with it the way we were expected to! All he’s done is cause destruction and grief! Can’t you see, Wil? All of the problems on this server started with him!” She spat the word him like it was a particularly nasty curse word.

Wilbur brought Tommy toward him and pressed the younger against his back. He felt his eyes narrow and his voice harden. “I can assure you that you haven’t gone through a fraction of what these boys have. Especially Tommy. I thought you were better than this Niki.” She flinched a bit at that, but maintained her glare. “I’m sorry that the both of you had to go through all of this at such a young age, but more violence isn’t the answer. It never will be. Please let us pass, we don’t want to fight.”

“I’m not going to fight you, Wilbur.” Niki turned to walk away. “I’m just mad that you decided to side with that fucking monster.” She left, not looking back.

Jack was still standing in the way. He locked eyes with Tommy, who was peering over Wilbur’s shoulder. “You better never come back. Stay away, where you can’t ruin anyone else’s lives.” He then turned and followed in the direction that Niki went.

Wilbur stood in shock in front of Tommy’s dirt hut. He couldn’t believe that things had gotten so bad on this server that people were blaming children for the things that adults did. He couldn’t seem to move, too focused on breathing, and the shaking, skinny form huddled between his shoulder blades.

There was movement next to him. “Fuck you, Jack! I can’t believe I ever trusted you, you bald prick!” Tubbo shouted at the top of his lungs at the retreating figure. His tiny frame shaking in rage. 

There was a loud guffaw behind Wilbur’s back, before Tommy burst into his familiar screeching laughter, which pulled Wilbur out of his trance. He turned around and smiled at his yonder brothers. Tommy put his arm on top of Tubbo’s head.

“Thanks, big man! You really showed him!” Tubbo joined in the laughter.

Wilbur simply watched them giggle and lean on each other before catching Tommy’s eye. “They’re wrong, you know. About you.”

Tommy’s smile shrank a little “Course they are! I’m the best.”

Wilbur could tell he didn’t believe it, but it was a start and that was enough for him for now. He clapped his hands together. “So which direction shall we go?”

Tubbo pointed in the opposite direction of the way Jack and Niki had left. “That way.”

Wilbur smiled. “Alright! That way it is!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter really didn't want to get written
> 
> But we have Niki! And she's kinda the worst!
> 
> Basically my thought process is that since they know that Tommy is leaving anyway, Jack and Niki feel like they don't have to pretend to like him anymore, since they don't have to lure him into a nuclear missile
> 
> And Jack feels "betrayed" by Tubbo because he chose Tommy over him
> 
> Because apparently on this server betrayal means "You did something that I didn't like so I hate you now forever and will do everything in my power to make your life a living hell, even though I didn't tell you I didn't like it so there's no way for you to have known and also you had really good reasons for making the decisions you did, but that doesn't matter cause I wanna be mad!"
> 
> I just have a lot of feelings about these block men and it's two am so I'm feeling ranty


	10. The Journey

Getting off of the main SMP lands seemed to take much longer than it usually did. Tommy and Tubbo kept stopping and staring at the major monuments. A lot had changed from the last time Wilbur had actually paid attention to his surroundings. Sure Ghostbur had flown over the SMP all the time, but he apparently hadn’t thought that giant red vines running over various bits of land were at all notable.

“What the fuck are these things?” he asked in disgust, stepping over a vine almost as thick as a tree trunk.

“Dunno.” Tubbo answered. “They just kinda showed up at one point. Think there's this thing with an egg or something.”

Wilbur’s face twisted in confusion. “An egg? What?”

Tommy scoffed. “Doesn’t matter. We’re leaving, remember?” he gestured in the general direction they were headed.

Wilbur surveyed the red covered land. “...Yeah I guess you’re right.”

Eventually they got to a point where none of them immediately recognized the landscape. They’d officially left the Dream SMP. It was only late afternoon, but the day had been taxing in ways other than physical so they decided the camp there for the night. Tubbo and Wilbur dug a hole into the side of a hill that could easily be refilled when they moved on, while Tommy tracked down a few chickens to keep their food supply stocked. 

The night passed quietly. The three of them exchanged few words, instead listening to the sounds of the insects and animals in the surrounding forest. They set beds next to each other in their small cave and blocked the entrance off with dirt. The torch spluttered in the corner as they tried to sleep. Wilbur found himself staring at the ceiling, eyelids not even drooping. Tommy and Tubbo shifted next to him, and after a few hours they’d both attached themselves to his sides.

“Wilbur?” Tommy didn’t even turn to look at him, instead keeping his head on his chest. “Are you still awake?”

He hummed in response.

“I’m scared.”

He brought his arm up to card through blonde hair. “I know, bud. Me too.”

The next morning was also quiet. It didn’t feel sad or sullen, more like comfortable. There was no reason to say any more than necessary, so they didn’t. There wasn’t anything to pack, so they decided to just fill in the hill and get going. They could eat on the road.

A few miles into the walk the children telepathically decided that they were going to everything in their power to annoy Wilbur, so they started playing i spy as loud as humanly possible. They managed to drag him in for a few rounds, where he guessed what they spied almost immediately, and quickly declared him “no fun” and “a bitch.”

In retaliation he sang 99 bottles of beer on the wall at the top of his lungs. He got down to 85 bottles before he got bored and started changing the drink every verse. Tubbo seemed to think singing about 78 bottles of vegemite was funnier than proclaiming that he’d spied a spruce tree, so he joined in with Wilbur, after which Tommy shouted that he’d been betrayed and tackled Tubbo to the ground. Wilbur pulled them apart, trying to breathe while laughing his ass off.

The rest of the day passed in a similarly chaotic manner, filled with shit children’s games and laughter. The further they got from the SMP lands the more a weight lifted from their shoulders. It’s amazing how much less stressed one feels when the threat of death by explosion isn’t constantly looming over one’s head.

Soon enough they’d been on the road for a full week. It was the best week Wilbur could remember having for a long time. He hadn’t felt this light and free since the early days of L’Manberg. Not even as a ghost had he felt this relaxed, as he’d always had a haze of confusion over everything he experienced.

They traveled through tons of different biomes including a mushroom island, which they’d almost stopped at permanently, but as it was only two days away, they decided it was too close and kept moving. Though they’d had to practically drag Tommy away, and he’d only conceded when Wilbur plucked a few mooshroom bulbs from the ground and promised that they could plant them when they settled. 

After two and a half weeks, they couldn’t decide on if it had been sixteen or seventeen days, they found a flower field that happened to rest on the intersection between an oak forest and a savannah biome. They’d passed through a village around two hours earlier, which meant there was a convenient trading source, and there was plenty of space for the boys to run around. They both turned and looked at Wilbur at the same time with pleading faces.

He sighed in fond exasperation. “Let’s start building.” 

Tommy let out a loud whoop, while Tubbo reached up and pulled both of their necks down to his level to hug them better. 

Wilbur had them gather a few stacks of oak logs before he let them run off and explore. Then he went around where they’d been and finished off the trees that Tommy had left half there, and picked up as many saplings as he could carry. He planted twice as many as they’d cut down, and kept the rest in the corner of his inventory.

That night they slept in a dirt house, because Wilbur didn’t want to bother to rush building something out of wood that they’d have to tear down the next morning anyway. Tommy and Tubbo took up their now customary spots on either side of him, and they fell asleep with no worries or obligations to keep them awake.

When he woke up, the boys had decided to set up a furnace outside and were making rudimentary pancakes out of flour, sugar and milk in a pan that they’d set on top of the hot stone.

A celebration, they said.

The pancakes were lumpy and there were no toppings to sweeten the bland flavor.

They were the best he’d ever had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And they're gone!
> 
> I know a ton of you wanted me to bring Ranboo with them, but I have plans for that boy that require him to stay for a bit longer.
> 
> From this point forward there are gonna be a ton of time skips, cause even though I love cottage-core fics, I can't write them, and writing the same thing over and over again doesn't really appeal to me
> 
> Thanks to much for all the comments! I really did not expect any of my fics to gain any sort of traction, but apparently ya'll are as starved for this stuff as I am


	11. Tommy has issues, but no one blames him for them

Over the next week or so, the house came along wonderfully. Wilbur put Tubbo in charge of design, and Tommy in charge of gathering wood and stone as far away from the building process as possible. He knew that they both needed to have something to concentrate on, but Tommy really is a menace when it comes to any sort of building. It took about an hour of randomly placed cobblestone showing up when his back was turned for Wilbur to appoint Tommy as The Official Gatherer of Supplies.

Tommy took to his new role like a duck to water, and soon enough they had more than enough oak logs and stone for their house. Tubbo’s eye for building was honestly impressive, and the house was livable in four days, and finished in six. They worked on it almost nonstop, only stopping to sleep and eat, and though it was hard and grueling, it was nice to just build without wondering if it would be destroyed in a week’s time.

The ground floor had the kitchen and a sitting room, along with a bathroom. The next floor up was specifically for Tommy and Tubbo’s shared room which could be converted into two if they decided later on that they wanted their own spaces, and the top floor was Wilbur’s. It was smaller than the other floors, and had a sloped ceiling because of the roof, but it had a balcony overlooking the front yard and it was perfect in every way. The only other part of the house was the basement, which was set up primarily for storage, but could be converted into whatever they wanted if the need arose.

Tommy started up a wheat farm, and Tubbo managed to find two bee hives in the forest. He set them up in the back yard where most of the flowers were clumped together, not bothering to make a farm of any kind, instead just letting the bees go as they pleased. Everything was coming together incredibly nicely, the landscape picturesque and perfect.

They’d been there for nine days before any problems arose.

Tommy had been acting strangely all day. He was especially skittish and wasn’t making eye contact with either of them, which meant that he felt guilty about something. It got to the point where he was staring at the floor the vast majority of the time. And every once in a while he would sneak off only to come back even more skittish.

Wilbur was getting concerned. Normally he wouldn’t push Tommy into telling him things. He knew how uncomfortable serious talks made the kid, but when Tubbo came up and told him he was worried he figured it was time to see what was going on. He waited until he saw Tommy start to sneak out the back door before he made his move.

“Hey, Tommy!” He tried to call the boy as non threateningly as possible. “Where’re you headed?” He kept his voice cheerful, and unassuming.

It didn’t really seem to make it better, as Tommy froze with wide eyes. “Uh, I was just- I wanted to g- uh, outside! It’s, uh, too hot in here! The breeze outside is nice! Love that air circulation! Good for a, uh, growing boy! Such as myself…” he trailed off at the end as he lost confidence.

Wilbur tried a different approach. “Tommy, what’s wrong?”

Tommy spluttered. “Wh- what? Nothing! Absolutely nothing is wrong, big man! TommyInnit doesn’t have problems! He is much too cool for that!”

“I can tell when you’re lying, Toms.” Wilbur said, and fixed him with an unimpressed stare.

“What? That is ridiculous! I have never lied once in my entire life!” He crossed his arms over his chest and stuck his nose up in the air.

“When you lie, you stop swearing.”

Tommy’s brain short-circuited. His mouth opened and closed like a fish’s for a few seconds before he found his words again. “That- that is the most absurd thing I have ever heard!” he paused for a beat before tacking on, “Bitch!”

Wilbur narrowed his eyes. “Tommy, I know something’s going on, you know something’s going on, even Tubbo knows something’s going on! Just tell me what’s up, it’s not hard.” he let his gaze soften. “We’re worried, bud. This isn’t like you.”

Wilbur didn’t expect that to be what set Tommy off. “Well maybe I don’t fuckin want you to know! Ever thought about that, you bastard! Maybe I’m tired of you hanging over me all the fuckin time! You’re always fuckin sticking your head in where no one wants it, and I’m fuckin tired of it! Just leave me the fuck alone, bitch!”

Tommy’s eyes went from narrowed and furious to wide and terrified in an instant. He stuttered out, “I didn’t- no I- I’m-” before taking off out the back door. It swung shut slowly behind him before closing with a gentle click.

Wilbur stood in the following silence for exactly seven seconds, arm stretched toward the door. It took seven seconds for his brain to catch up to what had just happened, and realize that he needed to do something. Two seconds more for him to wrench the door open and see a head of blonde hair disappearing into the woods. Six seconds for him to reach the edge of the trees, head whipping back and forth to maybe catch a glimpse of red through the foliage. 

There.

He stumbled over roots as he ran, desperately trying to keep Tommy’s back within view as the leaves got thicker and harder to push through. Eventually he broke into a clearing, and barely managed to see a block of dirt being placed back into the side of a hill to his left.

Wilbur let his hands rest on his knees as he caught his breath. He straightened up and moved to the hill. He thought for a second, then figured there was no way for him to get to Tommy without breaking in and potentially scaring him.

He broke through one dirt block and immediately Tommy started throwing things through the hole. Armor, food, logs, anything Wilbur had noticed going missing over the past few days, but brushed off as unimportant.

“I’m sorry, take it, sorry I don’t need this stuff I shouldn’t have taken it, I’m sorry-”

While he rambled, Wilbur broke the other dirt block and stepped into a small room with chests on the walls. Tommy had moved to another chest and was frantically pulling things out and dumping them onto the floor. He turned to look at Wilbur and continued to spew nonsense.

“Sorry, I know it’s selfish I’m sorry I just wanted some things to be mine, I won’t do it again-”

Wilbur’s heart broke a little. He gathered this wonderful, selfless child into his arms. Tommy didn’t relax in the slightest. If anything he grew more tense.

He mumbled against Wilbur’s chest. “Can I keep my compass?”

Wilbur held on even tighter, carding his hand through Tommy’s hair. “You can keep whatever you want. I’m not going to take any of it from you unless you ask me to. Tubbo won’t either.” He kissed him on the forehead before resting his cheek on the top of his head. “You’re allowed to have your own things, it’s okay.”

Tommy finally brought his arms up to hug him back. His shoulders shook with silent sobs. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you, I’m sorry.”

Wilbur whispered reassurances into his hair. “It’s okay Tommy. You’re okay.”

They stayed in the damp, dirty cave hidden in a hill until Wilbur heard Tubbo calling for them. The next day they set up specific chests in the basement for each of them to store any items that they didn’t want to share with the others. Ender chests couldn’t hold enough to make Tommy feel secure in his belongings, so having extra space that Tubbo and Wilbur weren’t allowed to use really seemed to put him at ease.

The day after, they planted the three mooshroom bulbs Wilbur had taken from the mushroom island.

The day after that they tamed a wolf and named him Ron.

The days passed.

Things got better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me tell ya, it is getting harder and harder to write like the past few major events haven't happened
> 
> Just gives me more motivation to give these fuckers the happy ending they deserve
> 
> Let my boys deal with their trauma plz

**Author's Note:**

> Some extra info!  
> Fundy isn't Wilbur's son in this. I love the dynamic, don't get me wrong! But it just doesn't fit in with the relationships and story line that I've got going on here.  
> The only person who visited Tommy in exile (other than Techno to laugh at him, and Dream obvi) was Ranboo. That's it. I know that technically Phil and Fundy came once and Tubbo maybe showed up but that might have been a hallucination? Well none of that happened at all. That means no Christmas tree from Puffy. Tommy did accidentally kill Jack in the nether, but I don't really count that as a visit. It was just him and Ghostbur until Dream sent him off, then it was just Tommy.  
> Other characters may appear, but it won't be for a while. I'm wanting to give a lot of cool down time for the boys.


End file.
